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Should a person with viral
meningitis be isolated?
Isolation is not necessary but, because
most cases are due to enteroviruses
passed in the stool, people with viral
meningitis are advised to wash their hands
thoroughly after using the toilet. People
changing diapers of infected children must
also practice good handwashing.
Resources
Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/
Meningitis Foundation of America
http://www.musa.org/faqs.htm
http://musa.org/symptoms.htm
http://www.musa.org/recovery.htm
National Foundation of Infectious Diseases
www.nfid.org
How is viral meningitis treated?
There are no specific medications or
antibiotics used to treat viral meningitis.
Most patients recover completely on their
own with bed rest, plenty of fluids, and
medicine to relieve fever and headache.
What are the problems that most
often occur during recovery?
One of the most common problems is
deafness which affects one in 10 people. It
can be permanent or temporary. Anyone
who has had viral meningitis should have
hearing tests. Other problems that can
occur include brain damage, seizures,
changes in eyesight, learning and mood
problems, and occasionally blood
poisoning which can result in scarring and
need for skin grafts and amputation of
limbs, fingers or toes.
National Library of Medicine
Medline Plus Health Information
www.nlm.nih.gov
Special thanks to Rhonda Harsch, RN, for writing the
original manuscript, and to Arlene Potts, BA, MPH,
CIC, and Kathy Brooks, RN, PhD, CIC, and Mishga
Moinuddin, MPH for reviewing the brochure.
Copyright © 2005 by the Association for
Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
(APIC)
This brochure originally developed for
Infection Control Week 2002,
sponsored by Georgia-Pacific.
Rev_3-10-05_SV
Viral
Meningitis
Viral Meningitis
Who gets viral meningitis?
What does meningitis mean?
Meningitis is a term to describe an illness that
causes swelling of the tissues that cover the
brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be
caused by chemicals, bacteria, or viruses.
Anyone can get viral meningitis, but it occurs most
often in children and in people under 40 years of
age.
Which viruses cause this form of meningitis?
Fifty to ninety percent of all the cases in the United
States are due to common entero (intestinal)
viruses. Mumps or herpes virus infections have
been associated with viral meningitis in children.
Mosquito-borne viruses also account for a few
cases each year. In many cases, the specific virus
cannot be identified.
What are the symptoms of viral
meningitis?
The most common symptoms are fever, severe
headache, stiff neck, photophobia (bright lights
hurt the eyes), drowsiness or confusion, nausea
and vomiting. Rash, sore throat and intestinal
symptoms may also occur.
Infants are more difficult to diagnose. Irritability,
difficulty waking the baby and refusal to eat
may be the only symptoms.
How are the viruses that cause viral
meningitis spread?
What is viral meningitis?
Viral meningitis (also know as nonbacterial
meningitis) is caused by a number of different
viruses and is a fairly common disease but
rarely fatal. Less than one out of every 1000
people who get infected will develop
meningitis. Because it most often occurs as a
single event, outbreaks are rare.
There are a number of viruses capable of causing
viral meningitis, so the manner in which the virus
is spread depends on the type of virus involved.
The viruses can be spread by having direct
contact with respiratory secretions (saliva, sputum
and nasal secretions) of an infected person and
then rubbing your own nose, mouth, or eyes. The
virus is also found in the stool of infected people.
Changing diapers of infected children requires
good handwashing afterwards. Some viruses
causing meningitis can be spread by mosquitoes.
How is viral meningitis diagnosed?
An infected person can spread the virus to others
in about thee days after becoming infected and
up to 10 days after developing symptoms.
Viral meningitis is usually diagnosed by
laboratory tests of spinal fluid obtained by a
spinal tap.
How soon do symptoms appear?
Symptoms will usually appear within one week
after exposure.